"I almost forgot!" He gently picked up the basket he had just tossed aside, as if it contained fragile treasures.
"Royal sister, this is some food I brought for you. Remember to eat it. It contains my favorite pastries and braised pork knuckle. It's so delicious!" Uncle Yun placed the pastry box next to Yun Duoduo's pillow.
Upon hearing that it contained braised pork knuckle, the Third Prince Yun Yishu was filled with envy. He swallowed hard, but could only watch longingly.
Yun Duoduo was both amused and exasperated. This eldest brother of hers was such a straight man! She was still a baby, without even teeth yet, how could he eat pastries and gnaw on pork knuckles?!
The aroma of the pork knuckle filled her with a sense of utter devastation; it was truly a terrible thing!
Well, such fragrant and tender braised pork knuckle in soy sauce is only fit for admiring from afar, not for touching. In the end, she is not worthy of it.
"Also, your royal brother has picked out a few storybooks for you, all of which are your favorites!" Yun Yibo took the well-worn books out of the basket, waved them in front of Yun Duoduo, and then placed them by her bedside.
Wow, there's even a bedtime story! Without a doubt, Yun Duoduo giggled.
However, she couldn't read these stories anyway, so who would read her bedtime stories?
"Royal sister, we're leaving now. We'll come to see you another day!"
"My sister is going to sleep, so don't get in my way." After saying that, Yun Yibo pulled Yun Yizhong and Yun Yishu toward the door, and the group left Shouchang Palace, looking back every few steps.
As Yun Yibo walked, he pointed at his two younger brothers with his finger, scolding them: "Tsk tsk tsk, look at you two, so shabby! It's your first time visiting your sister, and you've come empty-handed?! You didn't even bring anything..."
"We were just in a hurry to see our royal sister, we missed the boat!"
"That's right, that's right! Next time I visit my sister, I'll bring her my favorite incense!"
"Hey, that's more like it. Your pig brain is finally working for you..."
Listening to the arguing voices of the group, Yun Duoduo found herself enjoying the lively atmosphere. She smiled sweetly and closed her eyes; perhaps this was the warmth of family.
Seeing that Yun Duoduo was asleep, Granny Zhang went over and tucked the blankets in, then took the basket containing pastries and pork knuckles off the bed. She carefully checked the bed to make sure there was nothing sharp or that could hurt Yun Duoduo before lowering the bed curtains, blowing out the candles beside the bed, leaving only one candle burning by the door.
After dealing with these matters, she glanced at Yun Luoxue expressionlessly, then grabbed Yun Luoxue by the collar and dragged her out of the bedchamber.
She sent someone to escort Yun Luoxue back to her palace, saying, "Send Princess Dongping back to her palace and take good care of her."
Yun Luoxue glared hatefully at Zhang Mama, [That old hag, how dare she treat me, the princess, like this! The humiliation of today will be repaid tenfold in the future!]
[When my mother finds out how you've treated me, she'll skin you alive and feed you to the dogs!]
The palace maids and eunuchs nodded. "Yes, we will escort the princess back immediately."
The servants at Shouchang Palace were all very perceptive. Although they hadn't witnessed what happened inside the bedchamber, they could guess the Empress Dowager's attitude from Zhang Mama's demeanor.
No matter how Yun Luoxue resisted, the eunuchs and palace maids covered her mouth and dragged her away together.
Shouchang Palace fell silent once more. Empress Dowager Nangong Rui, fingering her prayer beads, slowly walked out of the Buddhist hall. "Have all the people been dealt with?"
"It's all taken care of, Your Majesty. The little princess is asleep now, and this old servant will stay by her side tonight."
"Yes, send someone to inform the Emperor about what happened tonight."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
With all the crises resolved, Yun Duoduo lay on the bed. Suddenly, she noticed a white jade hairpin at the foot of the bed, where the medicine box had appeared earlier. It must have fallen from Yun Luoxue's head during the fight. Yun Duoduo didn't think much of it and left the white jade hairpin lying at the foot of the bed.
As the medication took effect, she felt incredibly sleepy, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
...
Inside the Zichen Palace, Yun Beiye was shocked by Eunuch Zhao's words. He anxiously asked, "How is Duoduo? Is my little princess injured?!"
"Your Majesty, the little princess is unharmed. According to Granny Zhang, it was thanks to the valiant resistance of the First Prince, Second Prince, and Third Prince that the little princess was protected," Eunuch Zhao replied, bowing deeply. He was trembling with fear and filled with doubt. The Emperor of Nanyang was always calm and composed in the face of thousands of troops, so what magic did this little princess possess that could cause such a drastic emotional fluctuation in the usually cold-blooded and composed emperor?
He sneered coldly, "Having taken over someone else's nest, they've forgotten their own identity after all this time."
“Send someone to…” Yun Beiye couldn’t remember the girl’s name for a moment.
“Uh, Princess Dongping, Yun Luoxue.” Zhao Zhongquan lowered his head and reminded her softly. He was also trembling with fear at the sight of the emperor’s angry expression.
"Hmph, Princess Dongping? From this day forward, there will be no more Princess Dongping!"
“Send someone to escort the Prince of Jin’s daughter out of the palace, and forbid her from ever entering the palace again.”
"She should be thankful that my daughter is alright. If she were, I would make her whole family pay with their lives!" Yun Beiye threw the Prince of Jin's memorial on the ground.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Eunuch Zhao finished speaking with his head bowed, and quickly left the oppressive atmosphere of the Zichen Palace with small, quick steps.
...
Inside the Imperial Prison, the head eunuch, who was drinking, heard that the Empress had arrived and was so frightened that he didn't know what to do.
Don't these nobles sleep at night? Are they night owls like these jailers?
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